


with a little help from our friends

by agentmaine



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, so much fuckin TALKING
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 10:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20113957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentmaine/pseuds/agentmaine
Summary: "I get by with a little help from my friends."Or, the one where Aubrey and Duck talk about Ned, finally.





	with a little help from our friends

“Duck Newton,” Minerva calls. “Duck Newton! I would like you to take me to the store, please, for I require the waffles and also the maple syrup!”

Duck opens his eyes, squinting at the giant of a woman in front of him. “What?”

“The store, Duck Newton.” She reiterates.

“Yeah,” Duck grumbles, swinging his feet out of his bed as he sits up. “The store. Because fuck me, why wouldn’t we go buy waffles at 3am.”

“Excellent.” She’s beaming. “Aubrey will also be accompanying us.”

“Hey, Duck.” Aubrey’s voice chimes in as she pops her head into the room. She may be part of the scheme, but at least she’s not currently stood in Duck’s bedroom. Small victories. She’s wearing a pair of sweatpants patterned with little comets on and a shirt that Duck distinctly remembers Dani wearing not long ago, but that’s none of his business, is it?

“Hey, Aubrey. She put you up to this?”

“Yeah. I mean, no, I told her to go wake you up, but yeah. Still Minerva’s fault, since she suggested it.”

She grins at him, eyes bright and not because of whatever the hell happed in Sylvain, Duck thinks to himself, but because she’s an asshole who is enjoying this. She walks away, probably to go find her usual Doc Martens – god forbid her being not goth for a trip to the store, but whatever. Despite his internal grumbling, Duck catches himself smiling.

“Hey, Minerva, look. Gimmie a few minutes to get changed, and we’ll go get waffles. My treat.”

“I assumed so, Duck Newton, as I do not own any of your American dollars!” She gives him one more huge, toothy grin, before walking out of his room.

Sometimes, Duck wonders how his life got to be like this. But he’s realised it’s much easier to accept it and roll with the punches. Alien appears to you and gives you a talking sword? Sure. Become a monster fighter? Why not. Save the world? Well, answer is still pending on that one, but hopefully.

In the grand scheme of things, Duck rationalises to himself as he gets dressed, being awoken for waffles is a surprisingly mundane thing to happen. He should be at least semi-grateful – but not fully grateful, because once again, it’s 3am.

When dressed, Duck strolls into his living room, where he sees Minerva and Aubrey ready by the door. “Ready then, campers?” Duck says through a yawn. “Anyone else coming with us?”

“Well, Dani’s up, but I went and checked and she just asked me to get her some stuff. Barclay won’t be awake. Leo’s vegan. So, probably not.” Aubrey replies.

“Okie dokie then.” Duck nods and takes his keys in his hand, leading the way down the flights of rickety stairs to his forest ranger truck. It’s being used less and less recently, with everything else going on in the world. Still, he opens it up and hops in the driver’s seat, Minerva and Aubrey both opting for the back.

The drive to the store is quiet. Duck watches the road, Minerva looks at the sky and Aubrey stays quiet, seeming preoccupied. Duck glances back at her intermittently, noticing her chewing on her lip and fiddling with the pendant around her neck. He makes a mental note to keep an eye on her.

Leo’s general store, not typically being a 24/7 business, is empty as they pull up and park. Luckily, Duck owns spare keys for it, “in case of emergencies” as Leo had put it. And hell, this is sort of an emergency, Duck rationalises to himself as he and the others hop out of the car.

“I enjoy coming here, Duck Newton. Earth’s inhabitants are extremely lucky to have so much food! We on Miralaviniax Orbital Body 5 did not have access to such delicacies.” Minerva exclaims as Duck unlocks the front door.

“Wait, so, what else haven’t you tried?” Aubrey questions, her curiosity piqued.

“Many things, Aubrey Little! Why don’t we collect some and have, one might say, a sleepover?”

“Aw, fuck yeah! Girl’s night… I mean, and Duck too!” Aubrey smiles. Duck chuckles to himself as he listens in. He could say that they live together, its been a two month long sleepover, but he doesn’t. Aubrey is walking a tightrope between sad and happy and he doesn’t want to shit on something she’s excited about.

Her excitement has been, understandably, on a low for the past few months. He makes another mental note to not just keep an eye on her – god, he’s been doing that for a year now – but to actually sit down and have a talk with her tonight. Shit, he thinks, he knows Ned’s death hit her hard. Very hard. They’ve talked about it, but not enough, and a lot of the time it feels like they’re dancing around a shadow too big to avoid, lighting a candle to push away the dark when really, they need to embrace it.

Duck wanders off on his own to the frozen food isle, trusting the others to get whatever foods Minerva hasn’t yet had and can stomach in one night. The place is dusty, and still damaged, and the lights flicker in a way that is far too horror-movie-adjacent for his liking. This isn’t the place to talk about your friend’s death, really.

But maybe a sleepover could be, if he brings it up carefully enough?

“Hey, guys,” Duck calls out. “Y’all want ice cream?”

Ice cream could also help to talk about it, right? God, he doesn’t really know how to handle this.

“Yes please!” Aubrey replies. Duck picks up three tubs, hoping that Minerva won’t comment on it being less than typical for a hero’s diet, but its whatever if she does. He pauses for a moment and listens carefully, hearing Aubrey and Minerva chat excitedly and the rustling of an almost alarming number of snacks being put into a basket.

“Goodness!” He hears Minerva exclaim. “Your cereal isle is vast and confusing – I enjoy it.”

His suspicions are confirmed a few minutes later when the two walk around a corner with a basket piled high with all sorts of snacks. Minerva, for reasons Duck decides not to ask, has also bought a large houseplant and is cradling it in her arms. “Aubrey has told me that I can try more of your American delicacies tonight! I intend to!”

“Yeah, and I intend to pay for all of it, I guess. Jeez, guys. Whatever. It’s a treat.” He rolls his eyes and smiles, walking up to the counter and fishing in his pocket for any money he can find. “Shit, this is definitely gonna total more than $21.56, huh? I’ll tell Leo to put it on my tab.”

“Do you have a tab?” Aubrey asks, sceptical.

“Nope. But I’ll make one.” Duck replies, shrugging. “Let’s get home.”

Home. That word lingers in Duck’s head as he drives back to the apartment. He should make sure Aubrey knows that she has a home with him, he thinks. It might help.

When they’re back at the apartment, a blanket, snacks and movie station is quickly established. Minerva takes up one couch to herself, practically buried in a mountain of snacks. It takes a while for them to pick out a movie before settling on an old Disney flick, something easy. Duck is in charge of the waffles and he’ll be damned if they’re not the best waffles he’s ever seen in his life.

Therapy waffles, he thinks to himself, and has to muffle a snort of laughter as the fucking absurdity of the idea of _therapy waffles _really hits him. Oh well, as his mama used to say, nothing that can’t be fixed with a heck load of sugar.

He brings them out and gives a plate to Minerva and Aubrey, before settling himself on the other couch with Aubrey by his side. He notices that she’s quiet again and frowns to himself. He also notices Minerva watching all of this, a soft look in her eye that he can’t quite read. Aubrey looks… deflated, for lack of a better word. A girl who literally burns bright looks like she’s had her fire blown out and is trying to relight the ashes.

And shit, Duck guesses that, yeah, that’s probably accurate. Depression and mourning are some nasty sons of bitches, and he doesn’t want to push how he’s feeling onto others, but… yeah. Relighting the flame since Ned’s death hasn’t necessarily been easy. He sees it in himself and sees it in Aubrey. Good days and bad days and fucking awful days, and sometimes all emotions shoved lovingly into one 24 hour period.

It’s rough to deal with – and rougher to deal with alone.

“Hey, Aubs,” He says softly. Two words to start a dialogue that’s bigger than he quite knows how to handle. “You alright? Not like the waffles?”

“No, no, sorry Duck, the waffles are great. Really!” She smiles at him, a brief flash of teeth before looking away for a second. “Just thinking about some stuff.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Oh. Just…” She sighs, blowing the air up in a way that makes her red curls bounce. “Everything.”

“Everything is not very clear of an answer, Aubrey Little. I think you should elaborate.” Minerva chimes in. Her usually clear voice is muffled by chocolate. Duck chuckles as he realises that she has discovered Reece’s Pieces, and by god does she seem to like them.

“Thanks, Minerva. You guys good-cop bad-copping this?” Aubrey looks at Duck and raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t think so. Well, shit. Not intentionally.” Duck responds, realisation dawning in his voice. “Minerva. Did you _really _just want waffles tonight?”

“Yes, Duck Newton! What a ridiculous thing to ask! I always enjoy these sweet carbohydrate snacks, and the plentiful sweet toppings. Now, I am going to continue to watch Bambi and allow you two to talk.” Minerva replies. She’s smiling smugly as she turns back to the TV.

Duck can’t help but laugh. “Shit. Fair enough.”

Aubrey herself looks bashful, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. “I think she might have heard me crying a little earlier. Shit.”

“I feel like I’ve been Parent Trapped into talking about… well, the elephant in the room.” Duck admits. He shrugs and smiles softly. “Ned.”

“Yeah.” Aubrey scoffs, a little ounce of her usual confidence apparent. “I guessed.”

A silence settles between them for a while, the noise and light of the TV filling the room as they gather their thoughts.

“I miss him too.” Duck speaks before Aubrey does. He figures that if he doesn’t start, then she won’t, and all of this will keep dragging out. He doesn’t know how to deal with this. A big part of him doesn’t want to deal with this. But its not something he can leave Aubrey in alone. “Shit, it’s weird without him. And I can’t even… begin to imagine what it’s like for you.”

“Complicated.” Aubrey replies. She tucks her feet up close to her body and wraps her arms round her legs, making herself small. Duck thinks about how goddamn young she is, compared to an old dinosaur like himself these days, and how much she’s going through. It sucks.

“I’ll drink to that one.” Duck pauses, chewing on his chapped lower lip as he tries to get the words in order in his head. “I’m no therapist, Aubrey. But… I am a big brother. And I am your friend. And I was… _am _Ned’s friend, too. You’re not alone in all of this mess. No matter what, this door is open for you.”

He pauses again. “I’m sorry we haven’t spoken about him sooner. It’s shitty of me to ignore it. But, like, _shit_, that really happened, and… I can’t talk it better, but I guess I just wanted to let you know that you can always speak to me about this stuff.”

Aubrey is smiling, and Duck thinks she might be tearing up a bit, but he doesn’t comment on that. “Thanks, Duck. That means a lot. I… don’t have much to say about it yet. I don’t think I’m properly ready to. But when I do, you’ll probably be one of the first I go to.”

“No problem. How about tomorrow we go over to the Cryptonomica for a bit?”

“I think I’d like that.”

It feels good, knowing that he’s helped. It settles in his chest, warm and heavy and happy, and he feels, in some weird way, that Ned would be proud. Ned was a weird guy, but good at heart, and he didn’t mean for things to go the way they did. Duck doesn’t go as far as hugging Aubrey, but he reaches over and gives her hand one quick squeeze before going back to eating his waffles.

Duck lets silence settle for a few minutes, before curiosity kills the cat. “Okay, while we’re talking, can I just ask… You and Dani?”

“Fuck off, Duck.” Aubrey says, firmly.

Duck snorts a laugh and nods, saluting at the woman across the couch from him. “Okay. Okay! Message received. Loud and clear. Got it.”

**Author's Note:**

> aw shit i <3 amnesty


End file.
